Nelly Korda and ‘incredible miss’ and Rory shaking video | Weekend 9

Welcome! Where are you, you ask. I call this Weekend 9. Think of it as a place to warm up for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We will have thoughts. We will have tips. We’ll have tweets. But only nine in all, though sometimes perhaps more and sometimes perhaps less. As for who I am? The paragraphs below tell part of the story. I can be reached at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

Nelly Korda took the floor.

And I can’t help but think this will be one of the LPGA moments of the year.

Korda’s thoughts had turned to a story of painstaking this week Golf week writer Beth Ann Nichols, and you can read the whole story here. Earlier this month, a women’s indoor simulator competition was announced: the WTGL, which will be played much the same as TGL, the men’s simulator competition that started a year ago. And people were enthusiastic. There would be golf. There would be exposure. All good things.

But when Korda spoke to Nichols this week, he was upset.

The women, she said, should play with the men.

“I have mixed feelings about it, if I’m completely honest,” Korda said, “and I’m surprised no other girls have done that, or no one has really talked about it.

“I think it’s a huge and incredible miss that we’re not playing alongside the men. There’s no better way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary. It would have been the first time, I think, that men and women have been on the same playing field and playing for exactly the same money.”

“But I also think it’s great that we have this opportunity, so those are my mixed feelings.”

For what it’s worth, I agree, and I’ve thought before that there should be a Ryder Cup style mixed event. But for now, let’s put aside our opinion of her opinion.

Because it’s the thought that counts.

A sincere thought. And expressing it.

That’s not mine, though. That’s from LPGA committeeman Craig Kessler. It was just a few months ago, at the LPGA’s season-ending event, where, amid a series of questions about the LPGA’s growth, star building, and buzz, he said this:

“We’re competing in the attention economy. It’s not just against other sports. It’s: should I put on Netflix, should I go out to eat, should I hang out with friends, should I play in the backyard, should I play a round of golf?

“Anything that has the potential to grab a fan’s attention, we’re fighting it, so our job is to stand out, be interesting and capture fans’ minds in every way we can.”

Should Korda and other pros now go Talking Head or post their own Friday op-ed on a golf website? No, of course not (although I would love to take a week off). And there’s also a chance that Kessler and his team will meet all the needs of every LPGA professional. But probably not.

Think of the professionals who let you into their thinking the way Korda did. You notice it. You saw the headline of Nichols’ story and you clicked. (A gentle reminder to do so, if you haven’t already.) And you’re looking for more. Maybe you’ll stick around. Maybe while you’re there you’ll discover something else of interest.

And suddenly people are talking about the LPGA like they do about the WNBA, for example.

All this is not that painful either.

The truth doesn’t hurt, right?

“Again, there are no silver bullets to creating stars, and this is what an ecosystem is needed for,” Kessler said last November. “Yesterday we had our partner meeting and at the end they kindly asked: what can we do to help? We said two things: raise your hand if you have any ideas or a megaphone to share; and second, meet those who can also help.

“There are so many examples we can point to, whether it’s what Nelly did by going to the Met Gala or with Sports Illustrated or Charley [Hull] going to a state banquet in Britain or some of the recent things she has done on social media. I could show you a variety of players and things they’ve done to show up in the culture, and not just on the ropes. Those things make a difference.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work for our fans. What fans love and what fans want to see more of. And one of the feedback we get is that they want to see our LPGA athletes and stars beyond the ropes.”

Let’s see if we can find eight more items for weekend 9.

2. The video below was good too.

One takeaway from the week that was

3. Brooks Koepka returned to the PGA Tour this week, and on Tuesday we heard from him publicly for the first time since the four-time Major winner and LIV parted ways — and I found what he said about the divorce and comeback interesting, along with what he didn’t say.

His family played the biggest role, he said. He will now be able to play more events closer to home, as the Tour plays almost its entire schedule in the US

Koepka also said he had no regrets.

“I don’t regret anything I do. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve always enjoyed the ride, wherever I am. I think that’s one thing: you also learn from everything you do, so I don’t regret it.”

And he kept it friendly when talking about LIV. Is that surprising? Maybe a little. Divorces can get messy, and the Gulf Civil War has been terrible. But the parties involved are playing nice, at least publicly.

“Brooks and I – I spoke with Brooks on Friday to put things into perspective,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said earlier this month. “There’s no holy war, at least not from our side. It’s like we’re about LIV Golf and growing the game worldwide. Actually, I love Brooks. I support Brooks. I hope the best for him and his family.”

“If this is what he wants, there won’t be a better cheerleader for him than me. I tell you what, good for him if he gets what he wants and we get what we want. I’m absolutely – I couldn’t be happier for him and for us.”

One takeaway for the weekend

4. Speaking of LIV, the track starts its schedule next week.

And the deadline for Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith to return to the PGA Tour under the program Koepka used is Monday.

Nice reading material for your weekend

5. This story here was good. Written by Hugo Lindgren of the New York Times Magazineit profiles Max Greyserman – and how he uses lessons from his father’s time on Wall Street.

I enjoyed this part:

That’s why the Greysermans framed their presentation with the language of behavioral economics, listing the cognitive biases that distort good decision-making. Because bogeys hurt more than birdies feel good, you become timid on the green and leave your putts short. That’s loss aversion. When a great shot boosts your confidence, that’s a recency bias. Or if you convince yourself that a series of bad shots will surely end with the next one, then that is the gambler’s fallacy.

Just learning the terminology is hardly a solution to anything. Behavioral economics is at best a science of educated guesses; at worst it is an academic sleight of hand. In real life, cognitive biases distort our thinking as we make up stories at random. Suppressing your cognitive biases means digging deep and changing the way your mind works.

An instructional tip for your weekend

6. This story here was good. Written by the University of Kansas, it says athletes with better jumping ability have higher club head speed.

Another instructional tip for your weekend

7. Below is over 40 minutes of GOLF’s Dylan Dethier talking golf swing with Jordan Spieth. Enjoy.

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A story that interests me

8. This story here was good. Written by Barron’s, it says a British travel agency is organizing an event this year – in North Korea.

9. The question is: did any GOLF writers participate in the tournament?

Yes, Josh Sens did that, and you can read that story here. Here’s a taste of what he wrote:

In 2011, the year I was there, I gained entry to North Korea by distorting the facts on my visa application. (I said I was a golf tour operator.) I flew to Beijing, boarded a train to eastern China, then flew into Pyongyang on a groaning Soviet-built plane that I was pretty sure was going to crash. I was met at the airport by a North Korean government orderly, who remained glued to me throughout my more than a week’s stay. He was part sidekick, part enforcer: Stevie Williams in disguise.

A video that interests me

10. Let’s do 10 items! The video below was, well, interesting.